WC police want some court orders compelling Cele to act against EC bus attacks repealed

CAPE TOWN - Western Cape police have approached the courts to have some of the orders compelling Minister of Police Bheki Cele to take action against bus attacks in Eastern Cape repealed.

Provincial Police Commissioner Tembisile Patekile said the South African Police Service (SAPS) is appealing some of the orders issued by the Makhanda High Court in 2023.

The commissioner was speaking at a community imbizo at NY2 in Gugulethu on Saturday.

The Intercape Bus Company opened over 165 cases of attacks and harassment of its buses with the Eastern Cape police between 2020 and 2023.

It then sued Cele for lack of investigation and protection of its buses despite the court ordering the minister to intervene in the attacks.

The bus company told Eyewitness News this week that the harassment on its buses continued in Eastern Cape.

This is despite Cele and the provincial Department of Transport being ordered by the court to implement safety measures to prevent attacks on Intercape Buses.

Cele had this to say: "Minister does not put measures - police put measures in those matters. Minister is very unlucky because every other thing, whether he was there or not there, he's the first respondent in all that."

Cele, however, added that the Western Cape police and the Eastern Cape police are working together to address the grievances of the bus company.